Our Story

In the 1990’s, my husband retired from the military, and we bought a little home at the beach. The homes in our section were built in the 1970’s. This house had only been on the market one day when I drove by, stopped and talked with the owner, and later that evening, closed the deal. Thrilled with the fact that we finally owned a home of our own, we moved in a few weeks later.

My teenage daughter was the first person to see something. She came screaming out of her room and told us that a man walked through her bedroom wall and floated toward her. She said she thought he was going to float through her. Her father and I, not believers in ghosts and haunted houses, reassured her that there were no such things as ghosts. We told her it was only a bad dream, and I stayed with her until she fell asleep.

This didn’t stop the nonsense. As the weeks and months passed, she told me her desk vibrated when she tried to do her homework. Small balls of light zipped through the room and headed into her open closet. Shadow men, solid figures, not something you could see through, walked through her room. Each time she told me these things, I reassured her that when a person dies, his soul doesn’t stay behind but goes on to eternity. To this day, I still have a hard time believing in the souls of the dead sticking around to hide out in my art room.

I had to admit, the house was a bit strange. In the afternoon, before anyone got home from school or work, I’d hear the front door slam, then footsteps to the Florida room, and sometimes someone milling around in the kitchen. Dishes and cups rattled like they were getting a drink or a snack. The first few times I heard this, I called out, afraid someone was sick or my husband had a problem at work and came home early. An early arrival in this house, usually meant trouble. I’d call out, “You’re home early. Is something wrong?” No answer. I’d open the bedroom door and walk out into the Florida room to have a face-to-face with whomever.

No one was there, and the front door was locked as always.

I wasn’t the only one hearing things. In many ways, that was comforting. Sometimes at night, we’d hear someone walking around in the attic. They walked from my daughter’s room which is now the art studio to above our bedroom on the opposite side of the house. Then, they would walk around above our bed, and a few minutes later, the sounds would stop.

I wasn’t the first one to see someone walking through the living room. The man in the white shirt, dark pants and boots saved his performances for my guests. Those rather freaked-out guests include a doctor, museum curator, and fellow artists who were here visiting. Most of the people who have seen him tried to talk to him thinking he was my husband coming in from work or another friend dropping by. He always wears the same outfit. I guess ghosts don’t change their clothes.

One Halloween evening, I was alone because all the kids had moved out to begin lives of there own. Bored and channel surfing, I landed on the Sci-fi channel, and they had a marathon Ghost Hunters show. This was the first time I had ever heard an EVP and by the end of the evening, watched as something peered over the St. Augustine Lighthouse railing and looked into the camera. I was amazed. I had seen a ghost. A short while later, I heard on the evening news that Dustin Pari was at the St. Augustine Lighthouse giving a tour. I hopped in my truck and headed south. When I arrived, the hunt was drawing to a close, and Dustin was relaxing on the Lighthouse Keeper’s porch. We talked, and he referred me to a paranormal team in Orlando. They investigated my house and found evidence that it is indeed haunted. Not only is my house haunted, but there are other houses in the neighborhood with similar activity. I’m told it is what investigators refer to as a cluster haunting.

Historical research shows that the land was homesteaded in the 1850s by a man named Alonzo Small from Machias, Maine. There have been two paranormal teams here and one TV show collecting evidence. I’ve learned several things about the ghosts. They say there are 13 of them in this house. Have they been watching the Sci-fi movies as well? They told investigators there is a reason why I feel uncomfortable in my art studio.

It is because they are watching me paint and make jewelry. They told investigators they are here because of me. I have no idea what they want or why they are following me around. I will probably never know. I don’t have conversations with them.

Some of the EVPs are funny and some scary. I‘m told human spirits can choose to leave or stay. I know I’m not leaving, so I guess we are just going to have to learn to live together. I’m hoping this ghost cam will give me more answers and provide paranormal researchers with evidence.

This is still the only place in my house where I can work on my art. You will have to put up with watching me work. This might be a good thing since they like to hang out there when I’m working. I occasionally hear things moving on the bookshelf in back of me. Sometimes I play music for them. They said the music is catchy. Below is a list of experiences I and others have had in this house.

• Man walking through the center of the house.
• Sound of someone walking in boots outside on the driveway and in the house.
• Mist floating through the house.
• Strong odor of cigarette smoke in my bedroom.
• Someone calling my name.
• Someone who sounds like me calling other people in the house waking them up at 3:00 a.m.
• Objects moving on their own.
• Objects thrown across my art studio.
• Lights, fans, and TVs going on by themselves.
• Shadow people walking through the house.
• A woman humming.

We do not hold events at our house or hold paranormal investigations.
This is just a private residence. I am not a psychic or paranormal investigator.